Abstract

Maintaining or improving the soil quality is crucial for agricultural productivity. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of zeolite and its combination with chemical fertilizer and organic fertilizers on soil quality and sugarcane yield in the north coast of Cuba, Villa Clara province. The organic fertilizer (sugarcane filter cake-SFC), and natural mineral (zeolite-Z) and chemical fertilization (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium-NPK) were applied as treatments. The experiment was laid out in a randomised complete block design with nine treatments and four replicates. The soil samples were taken at a depth of 0-20 cm to determine soil properties such as degree of soil aggregation, water-stable aggregates, permeability, lower plastic limit, pH in water, pH in KCl, organic matter, assimilable P2O5 and K2O. The sugarcane yield components such as cane yield (t ha-1 ) and sucrose yield (t ha-1 ) were evaluated. Principal components analysis (PCA) and simple regression analysis were also performed. The best results on cane yield were obtained with the treatment Z 7.5 t ha-1 + SFC 22.5 t ha-1 , which represent a relative increase of 200% vs control (without fertilization). Relations between soil p